The Sorting
by breeze17
Summary: The sorting is not always a happy occasion. For some students, this is the end of any hope that they might be free of their parent's shadows. After all, we all know that stereotypes are not lacking in the wizarding world. What might the sorting be like for a child more aware of this? And what would their future hold? And how would they see the events of the next few years?
1. To Be Evil, To Be Good

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Franchise and all it encompasses belongs to J.K. Rowling not me and I am making no profit off of it or this work.

* * *

You place us in a house by age 11.

A prescribed place where we will forever be categorized.

No one is exempt.

This will follow us.

I will always be defined by who I was when I was 11.

Cunning, brave, smart or loyal?

What was my defining trait?

Will it still be true in seven years when I leave these halls?

Probably not,

I will change, grow, live….

but what do these things really mean?

Cunning means you are sly?

Cunning means villain.

Brave means you are here to save us all?

Brave means hero.

Smart means you don't care?

Smart means you are a bystander.

Loyal means you are a fool?

Loyal means follower.

So who am I?

Villain, hero, bystander or follower?

At 11 I am designated but by age 12 is this still me?

Probably not, but then again if you place a person in a mold can they ever truly grow outside it?

I am not just a hero, villain, follower or bystander.

I am the hero of my own story.

I am the villain of your story.

I am the follower of their story.

I am the bystander of that story.

I am loyal to him.

I am brave to them.

I am cunning with it.

I am smart with her.

I am not forever who you designated me as when I am 11.

I am both more and less and yet you diminish me to this person, this trait, this position.

From age 11 for the rest of my life, I will be defined by who you said I was when I was 11, and if you can't choose...if I don't fit into a box then I have to choose.

I have to decide and then I am alone, isolated by my own inability to break the mold of my own choosing.

Don't do this.

Don't destroy me before I have had the chance to live.

Don't make me my parents in these peoples eyes, now and forever.

Don't give me a reason to never be trusted again.

Don't shape my life here and now.

Don't stop who I could become in one moment.

Please..."Slytherin!"

Never mind, my path is set, the part assigned...So I am to be the villain in this story.


	2. An End and A Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any related franchise as they belong to J.K. Rowling and not me and I am not making any profit off of this story.

* * *

The end.

The war is over.

The war has been won.

The war has only just begun.

No one cares though, not right now.

All they see is victory.

All I see is history repeating itself.

So Tom Riddle is dead?

Why should I care, he was dead sixteen years ago and nothing changed.

He was believed dead when I started school.

No one changed the system.

No one changed the ministry.

No one changed Hogwarts.

No one changed their minds, instead, they were just more sure of themselves.

Dark vs light.

Evil vs good.

Light is the only answer.

Thousands of years of history thrown to the wind or preserved in a crazed devotion.

This was not a victory for the wizarding world, this was a victory for the so-called "good guys".

The Gryffindors.

They stand at the front of this victory, they are the heroes.

We will not change.

We will stand in the dark, away from the light.

Hiding from those who would decide our fates.

Hiding from the fear that will morph into hatred.

After all, by age 11 we were destined for evil.

Destined to be the villain to be conquered by the hero.

Are parts in this dance were assigned and we performed them to perfection.

We are the problem.

Slytherin, the house that remains only to identify those that will be the villains.

What is the point?

The world will return to how it has always been.

Harry Potter will remain the hero.

Hermione Granger will push for equality.

Ron Weasley will make his mark on the world.

And there is nothing wrong with that.

Potter has just defeated the dark lord, he deserves to be seen as a hero.

Granger will do amazing things, she will go far and push our world into the next century in one way or another.

Weasley has done things no one else would dare, he deserves to be seen.

But they to are forever blinded by their prejudices.

Or will they break free of them?

And will that be enough...probably not.

But no one will move past this like we need them to.

It is not our way.

They will laugh and smile and be free.

Then it will return to how it was for the last sixteen years until the next dark lord appears.

Riddle... a symptom of an even greater problem in our world.

After all the two sides claim their moral ground, one wins and the other struggles fanatically to preserve what they no until both sides exist as extremes.

The symptom of a society that refuses to change at its core.

But I will not be around to see it.

After all, I am to go Azkaban...if they could catch me.

But they can't.

Becuase I ran and they can't find me here.

The war ended and I ran because I know the way this story goes.

The same way it went for my father.

The Dark Lord dies and the followers who can't bribe their way out of trails by veritaserum go to Azkaban.

But don't worry, I knew we would lose.

Of course, we would lose, flawed principles and an insane leader.

We never had a chance.

I don't really care.

I never really cared.

Why should I care?

Why did I have to care?

Why do they care?

I wasn't looking for a chance, my fate was sealed all that was left was to outlast this war.

And I did.

Maybe my story can serve as a warning to all future Slytherins?

If anyone bothered to remember it.

I'm not going to be there to tell it to them.

Slytherins.

We were not the heroes of this story.

Slytherins.

We will never be the heroes.

Slytherins.

I know it, you know it.

Slytherins.

Severus Snape never was the hero in life.

Slytherins.

Draco Malfoy was never just a child.

Slytherins.

We are all the products of our society.

Slytherins.

We are all the combination of nature and nurture.

Slytherins.

We are all both beings of free will and beings of destiny.

Well, I suppose it doesn't matter now.

It's not my problem anymore.

After all, I'm gone.

I've emptied my Gringotts account.

I've paid my respects to the dead.

I've ... well, I guess it doesn't matter.

This is the end of my story.

A beginning for this new person I can now become.

I am finally to be free of the mold I was put into at 11 years old.

This is the end and it is glorious.


	3. The Beginning of the End

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Franchise and all it encompasses belongs to J.K. Rowling not me and I am making no profit off of it or this work.

* * *

We won.

We won the house cup.

It's a small victory but it's ours.

We won fair and square.

We won through hard work.

We won through dedication.

We won through talent.

We won the house cup.

No one can tell me we don't deserve it.

Slytherin won the house cup!

Maybe we are not cursed.

Maybe Dumbledore will let us have this small victory.

Maybe in this moment who we are destined to be wont matter.

Because we won the house cup!

* * *

But then again we couldn't win.

I forgot who we were.

I forgot that we are the villains and they are the heroes... and heroes always win.

Good must triumph over bad.

Otherwise, how would we know how the rest of life will go.

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley and Neville Longbottom are the heroes tonight.

Slytherin was merely the foreboding evil that they overcame.

A fleeting victory was stolen in the last moments.

We do not win, because we are Slytherine.

Who are we?

Who am I?

I am cunning.

I am thoughtful.

I am dutiful.

I am pure.

I am stuck.

I am evil.

Does who I am not matter?

Who I am does not matter!

Why does who I am not matter?

Why does who we are not matter?

Why?

Is our victory really so useless that we can not have what we rightly deserve?

In the end, I am never going to win.

In the end, I must correct myself here.

We are never going to win.

After all, we are not individuals we are a group.

Gryffindors are Potter, Granger, Longbottom, and Weasley.

Slytherins are Malfoy if we are lucky, no one if we are not.

Becuase we are Slytherin and if we won who would be left to stew in the injustice of the world and the undeniable conclusion of our path.

Who would be the villain of the story, left in defeat to provide the hero with a vanquished enemy to celebrate?

I want to win.

It doesn't matter what I want.

Becuase I don't live in the light.


	4. Watching Possibilities Die

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Franchise and all it encompasses belongs to J.K. Rowling not me and I am making no profit off of it or this work.

* * *

They killed it.

They killed it for what?

Being a weapon of the memory of the Dark Lord.

(Slytherins hear everything, we have to)

And are there any consequences, anyone whose sad, or regrets that it happened?

Of course, not the basilisk is slain!

Hip, hip, hooray.

Three cheers for Harry Bloody Potter.

He killed the basilisk.

A creature which has been in the school since its founding.

He killed one of if not the oldest magical creature in Europe!

But he's a hero.

It was dangerous.

But he's a Gryffindor.

It was a snake.

But he's Harry Potter.

It was ours.

Our right.

Our mascot.

Our creature.

Our founders legacy!

Congratulations.

AAAAAHHHHH!

Why?

Because it represented Slytherin?

Because it was a snake?

Because it was used by the dark lord?

Why?

Why did the basilisk die?

I'm not asking Harry Potter this.

He did his best.

He's twelve for Merlin's sake.

He is a child.

He is a victim.

No, I am not asking Harry Potter, for the blame is not going to be laid at his feet, not for this at least.

Not yet.

No, I'm asking the care of magical creatures professor.

Who should be able to identify the signs of a basilisk!

No, I'm asking the headmaster.

Who if he saw the signs last time should have seen the sins this time and done something!

No, I'm asking the defense professor.

Who if he took one moment to remember a word of the lies he wrote in his books about magical creatures should be able to do something, anything to protect his students!

Why was Harry Potter in the Chamber of Secrets alone fighting a basilisk in the first place?

Bravery is all well and good but who is so incompetent here that he and his friends where left accounted for.

For heaven's sake, the Weasleys sister was in the chamber and no one thought to gather her brothers and inform her parents?

Has no one learned a thing from the incident last year!

Has no one learned their lesson from Quirrel, from the Dark Lord?

IS ANYONE HERE?!

IS ANYONE LEFT?!

IS ANYONE AWAKE?!

WHERE ARE YOU?!

Where are you?

Why are you not here?

Why am I not safe?

Why are you not doing anything?

As the school continued to turn on anyone associated with tour serpentine emblem where were you?

But what is being done about it?

About the hate.

About the stupidity.

About the choice.

About the education and logic caps shown.

Everyone thought it was the Slytherins.

Then everyone thought it was the boy who spoke to snakes.

Everyone thought that we all could be the easy scapegoats.

No one defended us all year.

No teachers, no students, and no parents.

No lessons learned here.

No new class on cursed objects or safety will happen next year.

It wasn't always like this...it could have been...

It's almost funny when you think about it... and remember a time before Harry Potter.

When Slytherines and the rest of Hogwarts didn't have the walking talking reminder of their place in life.

We were still hated, but not like this.

We were still Slytherins, but not as separate or as forsaken.

Before Harry Potter, there was a spark of hope for the future, for change.

But now we live in the world of Harry James Potter, the boy who lived... where we are never going to be able to move past good and evil.

The white knight returned just in the nick of time to remind the pawns of the way the game works.

To remind the other pieces that they didn't belong on his side of the board.

It just wouldn't do to have the pieces leave the board, abandoning the paths set for them.

After all, no ones up for anarchy...not anymore.


	5. Reversing my Role

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Franchise and all it encompasses belongs to J.K. Rowling not me and I am making no profit off of it or this work.

* * *

Take a break.

It's not about us this year.

In fact, it's been quiet this year.

In fact this year we are not the enemy.

It's a novel idea...

Slytherin being ignored.

But I guess when the inescapable prison is escaped from we get forgotten.

After all, we are not that interesting.

After all, we are all still locked up tight.

After all, we are still young.

After all, we are...quite.

What's the point of watching us when there is real danger lurking in the castle?

What's the point of pointing fingers when your enemy already has a name and a face?

What's the point of looking for danger when danger is looking for you?

What's the point of focusing on a possible enemy inside the walls when there is a definite one knocking at your front door?

...and its dresses in red and gold.

Haha...hahaha!

Anyone else finds this funny?

That its a Gryffindor were all cowering from in the great hall.

That it's a Gryffindor who escaped from Azkaban.

I know I do.

I present the brave, the bold, the morally upright...the Gryffindors!

I'm bitter.

I know.

Two more years and I'll be in the world.

Then I'll know, once and for all if I can free myself from this cycle.

You hate me and I hate you because you hate me because you think I'm the kind of person you should hate.

One more time...

You hate me.

I hate you because you hate me.

You hate me because you think I am the kind of person that you should hate.

Look how it all turned out for Sirus Black.

The morally upright Gryffindor.

People must have been shocked.

Push it under the rug as quickly as possible.

Did anyone check for a dark mark?

No trial too?

I wonder if anyone noticed that he isn't a death eater?

Besides us of course.

I mean, of course, we know the death eaters, we have to.

To survive in Slytherin you have to know the payers otherwise you will find yourself on the wrong end of a wand.

Black doesn't have the dark mark...you can see his arm in a picture they took in Azkaban.

And they wouldn't have let him keep any spells on it to conceal it in prison.

We can not have been the only ones to notice this?

Oh well.

So my parents roam free and Gryffindors go to Azkaban without a trail, that makes sense.

A little bit of role reversal.

But it only proves the point I have always known...

If you do something wrong...

if you say the wrong thing...

dance the wrong dance...

support the wrong player...

wear the wrong style...

show the wrong inclinations...

curse the wrong person...

use the wrong curse...

Then its over, forever.


	6. The Calm Before

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Franchise and all it encompasses belongs to J.K. Rowling not me and I am making no profit off of it or this work.

* * *

I don't want to go...

Please don't make me go...

Why do I have to go...

Don't let me go...

* * *

I'm fine.

I'm okay.

I'm me.

I'm...

* * *

You can't change me!

You can't form me!

You can't mold me!

You are too late.

* * *

Someone already tried.

Someone has already set the mold.

Someone has already taken the time.

Someone has already decided the results.

* * *

I never had a chance.

We never had a chance.

Can we have a chance?

I just wanted a chance.

* * *

The unforgivable.

Pain.

Control.

Death.

* * *

Not yet.

Not now.

Not too late.

Is it too late?

* * *

First, you feel the pain.

Second, you lose control.

Third, you act.

Fourth you...stop!

* * *

Put on your robes.

Apparate to the location.

Roll up your sleeve.

Receive your mark.

* * *

I thought I had time.

I knew I had time.

I could have had time.

I don't have time.

* * *

Robes...

Apparate...

Sleeve...

Mark...stop!

* * *

Not yet.

I still have time.

I'm running out of time.

Did I ever have time?

* * *

The mark is darkening.

Auntie's mark.

They are celebrating.

He will be here soon.

* * *

My summer was not like my friends and classmates.

My summer was not spent laughing or doing homework.

My summer was not like my families.

My summer was not spent celebrating and in anticipation.

* * *

My summer was met with the knowledge that soon we will be called forward to fight.

That soon we will kill and die.

That soon we will all make a choice.

That soon he will be back.

* * *

Did I ever have a chance?

Pick a role.

Play the role.

Do not step outside your role.

* * *

Never deviate.

Because if you deviate then the good and the bad don't work.

Without a villain, how can a hero be born?

Without evil how can the light really prevail?

* * *

The evil versus the good.

The dark versus the light.

The bitter versus the righteous.

The Slytherins versus the...?

* * *

A battle here.

A triumph there.

A loss for her.

A victory for him.

* * *

The last year of my time at Hogwarts approaches.

The Quidditch World Cup approaches.

The Tri-Wizard Tournament approaches.

The end of the war aproaches.

* * *

I'm no fool.

This will be the end.

Her prophecy declares it so

This war has been paused for 13 years.

* * *

Someone is about to press play.


End file.
